


Foresight

by Jennifew



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 04:23:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15622476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennifew/pseuds/Jennifew
Summary: When Yvonne told Ianto his CV had landed on her desk and she'd seen his potential, it was true.  What she didn't mention was that those two things happened in the opposite order.Spoilers for Blind Summit.





	Foresight

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the following exchange from Before the Fall, from a post-Blind Summit perspective:
> 
> Yvonne: I got you this job in the first place!
> 
> Ianto: That was Bev.
> 
> Yvonne: Oh, Bev didn't want you back for a second interview. Your CV crossed my desk and I saw your potential.

The latest crisis having been dealt with--though to be honest, if other people had half a brain and a dash of competence, it never would have reached the point of needing Torchwood's involvement at all--Yvonne returned to her desk to look over the day's report on the terms she'd flagged for her personal attention. She was surprised to find among the usual news reports and classified documents a note from her hiring manager; Bev wasn't exactly in a position to run across the sorts of information Yvonne added to the list. Pulling those pages to the top of the stack, she scanned the note.

And there it was.

It appeared Ianto Jones had applied for a job with Torchwood after all. She knew something had to escape the retcon eventually, aside from her conditioning of course. He'd held out longer than she'd expected, repeatedly refusing her offers and requesting he be made to forget whatever incident she'd involved him in most recently, but she'd persisted and, as usual, got what she wanted in the end.

Only Bev had rejected him out of hand after only the cursory initial interview, due, her note explained, to his "insufficient education and complete lack of relevant work experience". Which, granted, appeared to be true--though having tasted it the last two or three times she'd approached him, Yvonne felt his coffee-making experience was in fact _entirely_ relevant for an organisation that often worked long hours in high-stress situations.

Luckily, she also knew things that weren't reflected in Ianto's CV, such as the way his lack of formal education hadn't stopped him from acquiring an astonishing array of knowledge, or his skills with everything from picking locks to reconfiguring technology to suit the needs of the moment. Not to mention his quick thinking in a crisis. Then, of course, there was his innate sense of loyalty, now firmly tied to Yvonne herself whether he knew it or not. That had been an excellent piece of foresight on her part; such a shame no one else could ever know of it. The important thing was, Ianto Jones had hidden potential, and she meant to develop it. Always had done, even after he'd refused her initial job offer after the incident with Blind Summit, when all she could do for him was arrange for Ianto's return to his old museum job in Cardiff to come with a significant promotion. She had wanted to thank him for his assistance more tangibly than just with the words, and since he wouldn't let her retcon that waste of space calling himself Ianto's father out of their lives...well, it had been the next best thing, in Yvonne's opinion. She'd hoped the new position would give him some confidence, as well as stimulate that under-appreciated intellect; judging by their subsequent encounters, it had worked. 

And now, it appeared, he'd finally responded to one of Walters and Hunt's job adverts and she would be able to lure him in at last. Admin would be a waste of his talents, of course, but he'd certainly be good at it--good enough to allow Yvonne to take official notice of him and move him to where he'd be of more use to her. Once she'd done that, she could begin training him properly, so that when she was ready to retire--and Yvonne fully intended to do so; with Ianto's conditioning leading him to look out for her, she'd be able to focus on Torchwood rather than constantly worry about being stabbed in the back as her predecessor had been--Ianto would be ready to take over.

Yvonne intended to be the first Director in Torchwood history to choose her successor.

That day was still a long way off, however; first things first. She fired off a note to Bev--just two simple words, "Hire him!"--and jotted down a reminder to keep an eye out for Ianto's first day. She could easily arrange an "accidental" meeting. She always enjoyed seeing the look in his eyes, however brief, when he heard the trigger phrase and everything fell into place in his subconscious.

As predicted, it was no trouble at all to discover when Ianto would be leaving Pippa's office on his first day. Though she'd seen him in them more than once before, Yvonne still wasn't sure why he'd started wearing suits on his own--of all the aspects of the Blind Summit case to slip through the retcon, that had seemed an unlikely choice--much less when he'd begun wearing them _properly_ , but as someone who liked having beautiful things to look at, she approved wholeheartedly. The fact that, once he was her PA, some people might foolishly assume he'd been selected purely to be decorative and therefore underestimate him was merely a bonus.

But that would have to wait. First, she had an initial meeting to stage.

"You must be new; welcome to Torchwood," she said as he stood outside the HR department looking lost. "My name is Yvonne Hartman."


End file.
